HALO scenarios for the starter set...

I did a couple of scenarios based on the forces out of the starter set. Mainly because I wanted to play out a couple of the missions I had done in Halo Guardians. Also the fact that the starter is 3/4 of a normal force means that you sometimes run out of troops when doing the missions as is from the core rule book.

I make no pretence that the scenarios are any good, but we had a bit of fun playing them. The Breakthrough mission is not particularly balanced - you need good play and luck, which is why it is suggested swapping sides and playing it twice  :)

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B0bW7KlaLg-DS25aS2NRdUw4VjA

HALO Ground Command - a fair few games in...

Oh the joys of being a teacher in summer, enforced time off... So quite a few games of HGC have been had with a number of differing people. Lessons learnt, rules made sense of and fun had all round. One of the beguiling aspects to the rules is that while the booklet looks quite daunting on first read the rules are extremely intuitive in many ways, also the rules book is laid out in such a way that core aspects are repeated in greater depth as you read on. Both of these aspects mean that by about the third game we were not even looking at the rule book, or indeed the quick play reference; all that is needed really (after you have got the core rules down) is the info on the unit sheets. For instance last night I spent 10 minutes going through the core rules and stats with me mate Shaun and then we started playing - he had it down pat very quickly.

But underneath this seemingly easy game play is a mother lode layer of subtlety with the interactions of the units and the mechanics. Both opposing forces play very differently, even with the basically half force Battle Groups you get in the starter box. Covenant wise you want to get up close and personal as quick as you can - not necessarily close quarter combat range but the weapons are shorter ranged based and always count as 'point blank' where that extra fire power rating is very handy. Conversely the UNSC want to use their longer ranges and good suppression to stop the Covies advance - hit them hard and hope they fail their suppression test. This often leaves them out in the open, or at least unable to fire/charge if done as a reaction.

Talking of reaction, learning when to use the reaction is a big part of the game play. To start with it is very tempting to use it, because you can. But after a few fails and then enforced activations it becomes apparent it is often better to wait til your activation, where at least a shot is guaranteed. However, a well timed reaction can, and often does in the UNSC case, stop the enemy dead in its tracks.

Take, for example the 'Hogs in the picture above, they had already taken out one unit of Grunts with their initial foray forward and now a good reaction roll (helped with some orders from above to lower the target number) was about to do the same to another unit (serves them right for being unpainted I hear you say).

Melee is pretty brutal, as it should be... One quickly learns not to get your 0 melee stat armoured units near to anything that can charge them (grenades in, down, under your vehicle is not a desirable occurrence). But that said any melee is not to be taken lightly, unless you have a high melee score and a heroic save to, well, save the day. So Spartans kinda shine here, but then again my War Host leader has been doing pretty well himself. In the picture above he had stormed the bunker basically by himself (losing a few grunts on the way - but hey, that's what they are there for), the combination of the cover from the bunker and his heroic saving let him see out the fire (as seen by the dice) from the unit behind. All in all as it was the last turn of a 'King of the Hill' scenario I was feeling pretty snug... Until that pesky Spartan on the right charged in!

The air missions have a really smooth mechanic to them, yes they can be powerful (especially in the base box set games) and are likely to take out a weaker unit, or damage a stronger one... BUT they cost you VP points. All well and good laughing at the fact you just vapourised a Grunt unit until you realise it got you 1VP and you gave away 2VP !  So, like the reaction mechanic, you have to be careful when you use them - OK to start with you will, again because you can, but now we only use the when we need them. I lost a game last night by 1VP and this was because I had run some combat air patrols when things were looking grim and if they had succeeded in taking his Spartan out I would have won.

I do like the exploding dice mechanic - always have from the first ever try of it all the years ago with Unchartered Seas playtests. But it works really, really well in this game, really well. Did I say really? But it does. Everything has a chance of glory; just some things more than others.

SO, how is it going? Well no one I have showed it to so far has not liked it, it is smooth and quick (after a learning curve) and is HALO. Yeh, I feel a bit like a fan boy, no I really didn't want to get into another game but hey, that's life and did I mention IT'S HALO !!!!

Reach for the toys...

Halo Ground Command - The Battle for Reach - two player starter set by Spartan Games

So it arrived, out of the box and onto the construction table:
This is what is in the box when it is built - minus the trees...

Demand has been extremely high, which has produced a few hiccups in supply of the game - but a deep breath and a step back to the good old days when one didn't instantly throw a hissy fit if things were not delivered over night should prevail - so on with the game at hand...

The following is not supposed to be a review in any sense but it is best, one feels, to impart some kind of order on my otherwise rambling muses.

BOX - a hefty little blighter, about A4 in size with some depth and a lot of mass. Lovely artwork, as you would imagine and wish for.

Inside are all kinds of goodies - the figures, scenery, tokens, unit cards, dice, in fact everything you ever needed to play the game apart from a tape measure - but then who wants a crappy tape which is going to break anyway?

Scenery - you get some shields/barriers and supply pods made of resin - all done ala the video game graphics. I like Spartan resin, an odd thing to admit to maybe, but it is good quality, not prone to exploding if you handle it any rougher than a museum curator and in my experience has very little, if any, releasing material on it which means I never bother washing it (bad boy that I am).  You also get some acrylic and card bunkers. Acrylic is so much better to work with than MDF and seems to make a cleaner cut - all without the horrible smell. Basically you make the acrylic shell and then the lovely card art work slips in there, then it goes onto the table (with a bit of weathering dry brush action on the acrylic if you can be arsed). 

Figures - made of metal as resin 15mm would be too brittle and with plastic it is hard (if not impossible) to get the amount of undercut detail that is required for an audience who knows the subject matter far to well... However, the vehicles do have resin parts (which in my opinion gives a far better, smoother look than metal) and all the bases are textured resin which was a pleasant surprise. The figures are very detailed, and as one would expect, very faithful to their source material and come with a 'how to' guide. The figures for each unit come on sprues in a bag with the bases. Some of the larger figures are multi- part and all of them have a round peg on which inserts into the base. All the sprues come with the associated mould flashing which is clipped off and then filed. Now, I am an old school wargamer, used to flash, used to putting stuff together and used to filing, repairing and even the odd bit of pinning. BUT I am wondering if a lot of the people picking up the game because of the subject matter and advertising by 

are going to be in for a bit of a shock - certainly the newer gamers down at the club who have only dealt with putting X-wing together, one piece plastics or at the most a guild ball figure or FOW tank are going to be in for a bit of a shock. Painting wise they should be really nice to do and the book comes with a very good painting guide which even gives you the codes for the vallejo paints. 

Unit cards - excellent idea, everything you need to know about a unit all in one place. also saves on them having to print everything in the core book and then having to do 'something' when new stuff comes out. New units will just have their unit card and be ready to go. Production value wise the double sided cards are excellent, the layout, graphics and the coating are all being top notch. 

I particularly love the 'generic commander' card with the gorgeous artwork on one side and the other reserved for game business (like placing order die).

Rules - what the game is all about really I suppose...

First things first I suppose, some questions I had have been readily answered:

• No - it's not a rehash of Planetfall.
• No - it's not just Fleet Battles on the ground (although some of the mechanics will be familiar). 

So far so good, the book is well designed and in sections that are easy to find and read. I did miss out on a few basic things that were hidden away but that was more me than the rules I think. Good idea to read it with the playsheet along side and the unit cards at hand as then it kinda makes more sense. 

Rules seem relatively straightforward but with a few twists. Movement is done as a unit but then element by element with the measuring done centre to centre which then leaves the orientation open at the end. I have always liked this kind of system with bases. There is a unit coherency which for infantry basically will see elements having to be close to touching to keep the chain. Activation is by initiative, alternating one unit per player. Here lies the reaction system mechanic which is designed to make it feel more like a first person shooter. In a unit's activation phase there are two points where a single (but any) enemy unit can try and interrupt with some shooting. This is at the beginning of the phase or at the end - obviously there is a bit of a tactical choice going on here as to what unit to use and when. Units can try and react even if they have activated that turn, however, as reaction success is determined by a 2d6 roll 'over' roll they may not be successful. Units have two reaction stats - a lower one that is used before the unit has been activated (reaction activates the unit) and a higher one which is used if the unit has been activated that turn. By tweaking these numbers units can be given very different feels. For instance Grunts have quite a high first value (meaning they will be hard to react with) and a seemingly impossible second value (meaning the commander will be having to use his command dice to help out) - compare this to an elite unit like a SPARTAN who have a low first value and a second value which is only one higher. Therefore SPARTANS will (as one would expect) be able to react to lots and lots of action occurring around them. A nifty mechanic and one I am looking forward to exploring. 

Combat - this uses the Spartan dice and revolves around making a dice pool and rolling them to get hit results. At different fire power levels certain die can be rerolled and some count as two hits etc. Vaguely typical Spartan 'exploding 6' mechanics and one I have loved since early Unchartered Seas playtest days - the firepower system adds a level of granularity to the system which is very clever. On the defence very few units in the starter box have a SOAK value which is used to create a defence dice pool and can negate hits. Units have a damage 'track' which is basically how many hits are needed to give the unit a damage token - most foot units can only take one damage token.  So how can your super units survive? By the use of a heroic save thats how. Depending on the level of heroism your unit can negate damage tokens by rolling the required result. Yep Spartans have a legendary level and can negate a damage token five sixths of the time. But eventually you know you are going to fail that roll. All in all combat appears to work smoothly and quickly - your normal things can affect the rolling, cover density, elevation etc etc. 

As I stated this is not a review just an overview and the rules cover everything you would expect - there is lots of background; all the rules you need including command die rolls that can be used to enhance phases of the game; aerial support rules - where would we be without Pelicans eh? Although, in an interesting twist calling in support or the big guns will see your opponent getting victory points, obviously as they are smarmy you have to resort to such tactics to beat them; there are a plethora of scenarios; a paint guide, force building rules and guideline -- like I said everything you need, save an opponent to pulverise. 

Obviously the starter set is just that - a 1250 point a side game (standard game is 1500 upwards) but the set is a great starting point to await the expansions and is modular enough to make another starter set (if you can possibly find one) a good investment game wise anyway.

How does it represent the hallowed game? Well in detail I don't think you will be able to quival over anything. Neil (head Spartan honcho) is about the biggest HALO fanboy I know and with him in charge I doubt there is any worry on detail or 'canon' wise issues. There will always be the question of if a miniatures game can simulate the feeling and action of a video game period... let alone a first person shooter. While it is too soon for me to say really (only a few playtest sessions) I can say I think this is going to be as close as you can get to an arcade type of feel - you just have to remember you are playing the big picture, not the action through the eyes of Master Chief. The action on the table is everything that is going on around you on the screen while you hurl yourself on a Spartan Charge at the Elite. Remember this and I can pretty much guarantee fun and carnage on the table top!

Now - off to splat some Grunts!!!!

Normandy to Reach... The joys of tabletop gaming!

Reach for the stars... climb every...

First of all this week has seen a lot of TANKS action. Shaun came over on Monday and we had a few games, playing normal scenarios to see which ones could be incorporated into the Normandy campaign. I used my new Brit list of three Comets (A troop) and their 'call up' tank destroyer in the form of a Firefly. Pleasingly historically accurate they also work well. The Comets have to be about one of the best tanks in the game point for point (although as they are all pointed to a formula this shows I am actually just as biased as ****). Nonetheless they did me proud against the might of Shaun's Germans.

On Tuesday they repeated the success against my games against Charlie's Germans winning 2 out of 2 scenarios (although both were very tight) before I swapped them out for 3 Comets (to see how they worked) in an intro game kill fest while we were teaching the rules to someone. A German swarm led by a Panther (2 IVS and 2 StuGs) in a kill match was never going to be easy and in the end an unlucky engine hit (which waved goodbye to my moving last with 3 moves shenanigans) saw my last tank unable to make the brave last stand, if only just.

But Tuesday was also noticeable for another reason. After getting back in touch with my old, and dear friend, Neil (Mr. SpartanGames) and arranging a visit I was hooked onto Spartan's newest release (technically shipping right now) :

Yep... (1/100) 15mm Halo ground combat (which complements Spartan's Fleet Combat game). Now I have known how much a FANBOY Neil is of Halo from way back when (Wargames Journal days would often see him dreaming of making a HALO game) and was really happy for him when Spartan got to do the fleet combat game. But up close and personal ground combat is really where the game (as in the video game) has its roots. And here it is:

Now, being a SONY family I have only got to play HALO a small number of times and because of this have never really got into the books etc. BUT being a 15mm fan (again numerous hours were spent at WJ and later Spartan HQ devising our own 15mm WWII game) I couldn't leave it alone. Plus in a very short space of time I have learnt about the Halo Universe and especially all about the planet of REACH. Long prose way of saying - it's freekin' arriving very soon!

Made in pewter (for detail sake) the miniatures do look stunning:

But a game is only as good as its rules. Obviously a better in depth look at the rule mechanics will appear in a short while but suffice to say they have adapted the Star Fleet rules to cover ground combat. Design wise I suspect Neil has had to keep a number of hats on. I know he likes to cover stuff in detail and was never really a fan of much abstraction, or rules that made little sense except for the game play. But this will be a game for not just experienced table top or wargamers but for those HALO fans who will want to try it out - especially with the blossoming in the trendiness of playing 'games' on the table, not just online. As such it will need to be relatively easy to pick up, but with enough depth for experienced players. This is a very hard goal to achieve, but I bet the Big Man has come up with the goods.

One thing I am glad that appears to be in there is a mechanic to liven up the 'Igo Ugo' system, which for its target audience it has to be. Having tried to teach free flowing games to non gamers it seems to be that it is just too much to take in. The reaction system that they seemed to have settled on is one that has been toyed with for a long time - the unit (base, figure etc) has a reaction stat and if this is rolled over the unit can react to anything done by the active unit (and it seems to be alternating unit/group activation). Nothing new perhaps (Ambush Alley, THW, Infinity and others have similar) but in HGC it appears that the unit will have two stats for reaction - one target number for the first reaction and then one for subsequent reactions. This means it is a tactical decision to react (as it means you can't activate fully that turn) and also it gets harder to keep reacting. Also it looks as if some units have a second reaction TN of over 12, this in theory means they can't react again but there are some command decisions which can modify your roll. Also super units (think Spartans here) are game savers and could have a low second reaction target meaning they can keep on and on like the proverbial Duracel Bunny !

Can't wait to try this out, also can't wait to mod it to my WWII figures and Stargate  - but that is another story.

So if this whets your appetite then I shall report back more later SIRRR !

INTO NORMANDY BY TANK... GF9 Tanks Organised Play event at Enfield Gamers...

On the 2nd and the 9th of August I will be running the OP kit campaign over the two evenings. 10 players will compete to see who is the best Tank Commander over the two evenings of play (6 games for each). As players will be nominally put into 'teams' the evenings will also determine if the liberation landings have been successful - which will feed into other OP events.

McTague winced as felt the front of his M4 tip over the edge of the ramp and enter the chopped up water... His crew had already witnessed one tank tip and disappear, the crew desperately escaping into the bullet strewn water. Hopefully the reason was not miscalculation on the LCT crew's part but a crater from the preliminary bombing that had fallen short. Fear passed over his face as the front hull seemed to go down and down - relief surging as he felt the tracks hit sand and start to dig, the days of waterproofing the hull paying off.

Vision was never good through the periscopes, today it was virtually non existent - the water, sand and constant MG fire saw to that. 'Preacher' the gunner sought out his target, a bunker that was covering the beach exit.


Bodies, wrecked tanks, sunk landing craft, the beach was littered with debris already. Geller, the driver, tried to hammer up the beach as the sand erupted volcano like around them...

Fase had been manning his 75mm anti-tank gun day after day, month after month. Life was good for the occupying forces, cheese, eggs and friendly locals, he hardly felt that there was a war on. Even when it came, and he knew it must, it was likely to be up the coast - not in his bit of Normandy, then what ever happened, would happen. It was the droning that woke him up - then the whistling and then the blasts. Blast after blast - his ears hurt, concrete dust was everywhere, flashes coming in the front slit... But no word from above, so he presumed it was just a bombing raid. He and his colleagues couldn't determine if it was plane droning that carried on or just their burst ears. At first light the dust was settling and he looked out...

OK... panic filled his mind, the invasion was here - and it looked like they had only chosen his little bit of Normandy...
"Loader, AP ... Fire"

FLASH, searing shards of white hot metal seemed to fill the hull compartment, ears rang, eyes blinded. McTague realised they had been hit, but not penetrated... Yells, blasphemy followed but they kept going, up towards the exit.

FLASH, Preacher wiped his front, wiped 'Angelos' off him... They'd been hit again, a solid lump of AP shot, white hot by the time it was through the armour, had gone straight through the loader, ricocheted around and started a fire in the ammunition storage. Scrambling through the escape hatches, the crew bailed out... But other tanks carried on!

Running over two nights the campaign will follow the first wave of landings and the action of the next day. Before any play, the commanders will be split into 2 teams - US/Brits and Germans. It matters not what forces they may actually be using but results will be used to form a narrative base for the OP kit as a whole. 

Players will however be allowed/encouraged to submit 2 100 point lists - one for attacking and one for defending the beaches. If this option is taken however the player should use Germans for the defending side list. In this way there will be a more historical feel to most of the games. 

Each player will receive the acrylic OP themed measuring sticks and four sets of terrain will be given out as prizes at the end of the 2nd nights play - these will be for:
Best Commander - the person who has won the most games.
Best painted/themed troop - what it says on the tin !
Best take out of the campaign - one shotted a Panther; then you have a chance!
Commander with most points at the end of the second Tuesday.

The first night will see the players playing the OP scenario twice; once as attacker and once as defender (against different opponents). However, the game will last 8 turns with VPs being scored on the 7th and 8th turn for the attacker. The defender can choose to use the bunkers, trenches  and tanks traps instead of houses if they like - in which case the rules in the OP kit are followed for set up.  

Following that the 3rd and 4th games of the evening will be one hour games and will be one of the missions from the rule booklet themed for Normandy. The defenders (determined normally) will be allowed to place the special terrain instead of the houses. 

During the second night the games will all be scenario driven and these will be determined by the outcome of the first night - if the allies do well then the scenarios will be trying to expand the beach-head, capture important terrain etc etc. If the Germans do well on the first night then expect some counter attacks as they try and drive the liberators back to the beaches (this blog will be updated after the first night).

Non of the players have been playing long - and we have kit we can lend out, the rules are quick and easy to pick up. SO come and help D-Day succeed (or fail depending on your allegiance).

Commander McTague, missions and good times... all on a school night!

Shaun (long time gaming mate, who has to suffer my game adhd) came over for more TANKS last night. We played 3 missions out of the rule book on my over terrained (for a standard game) table - we had bocage on there which we said blocked LOS unless against it, gave cover and a tank could only move once if they went over it at any point.

Three good games where we kept the same forces for all the games but had the chance for the attacker to choose edges. Shaun, from memory, had 4 M4 - one of them a 76mm with a few crew upgrades and I had a Jagdpanther, Panther and a StuG - Barkmann in the Panther and a precise gunner in the Jagdpanther which also had cammo netting.

My baby cats!

The first mission was the KILL mission and it was pretty close - some early BIG hits from the 88mm on the Jagdpanther meant it was always going to be hard work for Shaun to claw back - he nearly did but in the end I was winning on points after the allotted time.

A cat in the bush... bye bye Fury

 Second mission was 'King of the Hill' and the objective was the cross roads in the village.

Again a tense game, felt a bit like Villiers Bocage in the end but I managed to eek out another victory. Although my Jagdpanther was out of the game for a long while with a  broken track result which took a long time to clear! It came back in at the end and made sure that there was no chance for Shaun really.

Barkmann claiming the objective

Engine fire eventually got the StuG !

Third game we played the defense scenario which played into the US tanks hands in a sense as Shaun put an objective in both corners - forcing a wide defensive line, kept one side busy while concentrating on the other. A sound tactic but my cammo netted, in the wood Jagdpanther proved a tricky one to take out - my mobile reserve, in the form of the StuG went down fairly easily from being ganged up on and my Panther held it's side but a busted track meant I couldn't then nip across to help out on the other flank - well played Shaun !

Again - very impressed with the rules - three good, close games in 2.5 hours of play, who can argue with that.

After re-reading some of the memoirs and accounts of tankers I like the way the rules cover stuff I am reading all the time. US tanks knowing they are not going to penetrate went for longer ranged HE and even WP ammo attacks on the Germans hoping to disrupt them enough to get around the side. In TANKS this is basically what is happening with the lucky crits that get through to give the optic/busted track/stunned crew effects.

Roll on OP season...

Tanks revisited...

So, been playing TANKS for a few weeks now, at home, at the club and even a couple of excursions to play 'strangers' at Dark Sphere, all coupled with the rewatching of Fury and a lot of re-stocking of 15mm scenery. So, what has been learnt from these forays?

1/ Still really, really like the 'game'. It plays fast and furious and I haven't had a game yet I have been even the remotely bit 'miffed' in.
2/ It's simple enough in its mechanics to play different/new players and not have to discuss the mechanics or interpretations of the rules - which will be great in Organised Play sessions.

3/ THERE is going to be Organised Play starting this month and it looks good! Participation prizes of alt art cards, winner prizes of acrylic tokens and rulers and thankfully no 'unique' cards or tanks! First theme is Normandy and introduces static fortifications and bocage to the mix - can't wait.

4/ It's really not as cheesey game play as some people make out. Yes in theory, especially in the movement, you can do weird things. But, in reality when you are playing these would rarely be advisable or beneficial. Tank 'jumping', as in moving over operational tanks, which has attracted a lot of criticism from 'rivet counters' (note destroyed tanks are impassable terrain) is an essential part of the game play. While in the course of a bigger 'traditional' WWII game this would be daft the fact, that in Tanks, you are playing a short, objective driven, time limited game it means someone can not block you in by closely surrounding your tank... If you want rationale, beyond avoiding dick head plays, then it is explained by the fact all the tanks would be moving simultaneously and therefore one would not be able to pull in off.

5/ Crew and upgrades make the game, but do not dictate the game. Always a good result, the crew and upgrades add character and game play - but a vanilla lot of tanks are still a very viable list indeed.

6/ It is fast and furious, and it is a game... But I have been pleasantly surprised how, despite what people tend to purport, you need to use 'tactics' from the era. Moving tanks are a lot harder to damage (as in to hit and cause damage), moving makes shooting harder, BUT stationary shooting helps you hit with the down side being you are easier to hit. All things you read about in memoirs from WWII tankers. 'Keep moving' (US trait) or you die is something that you hear from all allied tankers, 'keep firing until you hit' is another - both good advice for TANKS. Meanwhile the German armour often benefits (as in late WWII) from being hidden (camo netting) getting a good first stationary shot in, then moving like crazy (blitzkrieg trait) and hoping to keep popping them off until the little bastards get behind you!

7/ People are drawn to the game... always have an audience who often end up vocally joining in!

So, all in all the game is going from strength to strength I think...